The sign outside the theater reads "Where the Wild Things Are," but five candidates running for election in Gaithersburg remained cool under pressure, even when questions got fiery.

About 70 residents turned out Thursday at Kentlands Stadium 8 to hear Mayor Sidney A. Katz, his opponent, Richard Koch, and three candidates for council, incumbents Henry F. Marraffa Jr., Michael A. Sesma and challenger Tom Rowse, answer questions. The forum was residents' last chance to hear all five candidates as a group before Nov. 3 elections.

Questions included how candidates would help grow business in Kentlands Downtown, how they set themselves apart, how they would prioritize city services and spending, how they viewed redevelopment for Lakeforest mall and the surrounding area and how they planned to help small businesses.

Demos Chrissos, a 27-year city resident who lives in Kentlands, asked Katz, 59, why the city has not succeeded in revamping Olde Towne so it thrives as well as Rockville's Town Center.

"It comes down to what I consider a leadership view," Chrissos said. "You talk about that you're a leader and limits to the role. I take issue with that."

Katz said Rockville failed twice at reviving its city center.

"Today if you go down to Olde Towne, the beginning of the renaissance is there," said Katz, who owns a business in Olde Towne. He said the demolition of the city-owned Fishman Building on East Diamond Avenue and of vacant apartment complexes on the site of the future Archstone project across the street are making way for the future.

Katz said public safety is his No. 1 priority, but declined to give specifics on whether he would push the city manager to increase police staffing, to the disappointment of residents who said they wanted answers.

Koch, 55, a Kentlands resident and real estate developer who has the support of the city police union, said that he would increase police staffing through economic development.

The city manager needs to redirect Assistant City Manager Tony Tomasello as the city's fulltime director of economic development or create an economic development team, he said. The city needs to foster relationships with large businesses and recognized the needs of small businesses, he said, and encourage more infill development.

"I don't see that there's a structure within the city right now to do all that," he said.

Suzanne Scharff of Quince Orchard Park attended the meeting with her husband, Steve.

"I wanted to hear what the new [candidates] had to say," she said. "I didn't change my mind. I know who I am voting for. I think we're doing OK."

Her husband asked candidates how the city could make more of relationships with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, MedImmune, Lockheed Martin and other anchors to the local economy. Sesma suggested the possibility of branding future recreational facilities with the names of industry giants.

As for boosting businesses, Marraffa, who has served as economic development chairman for the National League of Cities, stressed the importance of "getting the right mix" of restaurants and businesses and creating each spot as "a destination."

Rowse said the city has established its brand and needs to work on "badging," or creating unique identities for the city's five retail districts and urban centers.